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A flexible, environmentally controlled experimental setup for the study of terrestrial animal dispersal is reported. Its unprecedented scale should enable studies in spatial ecology and permit tests of conservation strategies in the face of environmental change.

Castells-Nobau et al. provide insight into how bacteriophages in the gut microbiome contribute to regulating food addiction by modulating tryptophan and tyrosine metabolism in the host.

Antila et al. show that brain amyloid-β load is not significantly affected by sustained dural lymphatic vessel atrophy or hyperplasia induced by lymphangiogenic growth factor manipulation in two mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.

Soft tissue trauma can result in aberrant osteochondral differentiation of local mesenchymal progenitor cells. Here the authors show that, in mice, soft tissue trauma results in NGF expression by perivascular cells, which leads to axonal invasion and drives abnormal osteochondral differentiation, and show that this process can be prevented by inhibition of NGF signaling.

Natural isolates of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes differ in their sensitivity to the anti-exploratory pheromone icas#9, yielding two distinct foraging strategies that possess different survival advantages depending on environmental conditions such as food distribution.

Georgiou et al. found that the sex of the person performing experiments affects mouse behavior, including responses to stress and ketamine. This effect was mediated by corticotropin-releasing factor neurons in the entorhinal cortex that project to CA1.

Tools from statistical physics can be used to investigate a large variety of fields ranging from economics to biology. Here the authors first adapt density-functional theory to predict the distributions of crowds in new environments and then validate their approach using groups of fruit flies.

Chowdhury et al. develop the Divider Assay, which is a simplified experimental procedure that allows Drosophila researchers to perform aggression analysis for a long period of time and in complete darkness. They find a peak in fighting during the middle of the day. This pipeline is expected to facilitate high-throughput screening for aggression.

The gut-derived molecule 4-ethylphenol influences complex behaviours in mice through effects on oligodendrocyte function and myelin patterning in the brain.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy is enhanced by microwave radiation that allows photon-assisted tunnelling processes. This technique is demonstrated on impurity states in a superconductor.

Birds have an excellent ability to learn to discriminate harmless insects from those that they mimic on the basis of subtle differences in appearance.

This study shows that Drosophila melanogaster females are more selective after their first mating because mating triggers the increased release of juvenile hormone, which desensitizes the Or47b olfactory neurons to an aphrodisiac pheromone produced by males.

Unimolecular integration of NMDA receptor antagonism with GLP-1 receptor agonism effectively reverses obesity, hyperglycaemia and dyslipidaemia in rodent models of metabolic disease.

Using a germ-free BTBR mouse model of ASD-like behaviors, here the researchers demonstrated that the absence of gut microbiota significantly reduced social deficits, repetitive behaviors, and neuroinflammation.

One third of all epilepsies are treatment-resistant. Here, the authors show in a genetic model of epilepsy that a repurposed drug can correct cell defects, brain circuits and seizure-like events by accelerating endocytosis.

Trajectory-coding neurons in the hippocampus convey important information for performing memory tasks. Here, Kinsky et al. track long-term neural activity in the hippocampus to find that trajectory-coding emerges rapidly and remains stable across long time-scales.

Antarctica is increasingly popular as a site for tourism and scientific research. The growth of marine traffic and the presence of major research stations have increased the anthropogenic deposition of heavy metals into this fragile ecosystem.

In contrast to previous studies, analyses now show that ocean acidification does not perturb important behaviours—such as the avoidance of chemical cues from predators—of coral reef fishes.

An experimental evolution study on Drosophila sister species suggests that quantitative differences in cuticular hydrocarbons and in social structures shift across the generations to enhance sexual isolation of the species.

Obesity and aging increase Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Here, using an AD mouse model and high-fat diet, we suggest that immune exhaustion links the two risk factors, and identify a metabolite that can hasten immune dysfunction and memory deficit.

FOXG1 syndrome phenotypes depends largely on mutation type. Here authors generate a mouse model carrying the patient-specific Q84 mutation and report the N-terminal fragment produced, modifies the intracellular localization of FOXG1, and promotes radial glia identity while suppressing migration.

Ventral striatal dopamine D3 and D1 receptors regulate motivation and reinforcement, respectively, through dissociable physiological actions.

How do social insect colonies regulate tasks after the developmental stage and in response to changing environments? Here, Crall et al. use automated individual tracking to reveal that task switching after a major colony disturbance helps to maintain collective foraging performance in bumble bees.

Looming discs are perceived as an innate threat by flies and elicit a survival response. Here, the authors report that flies exhibit either an escape or freezing response depending on their walking speed and identify the involvement of a pair of neurons in mediating the behavior.

The gut hormone tachykinin (Tk) is found to be regulated by protein intake in flies and mice. In flies, Tk is shown to impact food choices, sleep and lifespan.

Scientific societies, journals, editors and researchers are pushing back against mean-spirited peer reviews.

Jasmonic acid (JA) is involved in defence against herbivores. Once the plant is attacked, the memory of aggression can linger for weeks, including in newly formed leaves. The authors investigate what the induced changes in the transcriptome and methylome are, and uncouple short- and long-term effects of JA.

Inspired by insects in nature, the authors develop a neuromorphic robotic system with obstacle avoidance, tunnel centering and gap crossing capabilities. Their robotic system accomplishes these multiple capabilities by steering towards regions of low apparent motion.

Despite the profound knowledge of sex pheromones, little is known about the coevolutionary mechanisms and constraints on their production and detection. Whole-genome sequences from 99 drosophilids, with chemical and behavioural data, show that sex pheromones and their cognate olfactory channels evolve rapidly and independently.

Smartphone-controlled soft optofluidic probes with replaceable plug-like drug cartridges enable chronic in vivo pharmacology and optogenetics for the selective wireless manipulation of brain circuits in rodents.

Using bibliometric techniques, this Article assesses the evolving landscape of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 research, highlighting publication trends, thematic focus areas, authorship patterns, keyword co-occurrences and citation networks.

Diet-related maternal obesity is linked to neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, yet underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, authors show that maternal high-fat diets trigger immune-metabolic dysregulation, elevating neurotoxic kynurenine metabolites in fetal brains, and blocking these pathways rescues social deficits in male mice, highlighting preventive strategies for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Place cells and grid cells are known to encode spatial information about an animal’s location relative to the surrounding environment. Here, the authors show that place cells predominantly encode environmental sensory inputs, while grid cell activity reflects a greater influence of physical motion.

Most of the iron-binding ligands are from freshly biologically produced organic matter which likely controls iron biogeochemistry across the Southern Ocean. Our findings have consequences for iron cycling, productivity, and ocean-climate feedbacks.

Whether and how highly penetrant NDD (neurodevelopmental disorder) genes such as Syngap1 regulate sensorimotor integration are not fully understood. This study shows that Syngap1 expression in cortical projection neurons promotes cognitive abilities in mice through forming distributed networks that integrate sensory information with motor signals, a dynamic process required for perception and attention.